Many industries, such as the automotive care industry, require the use of vacuum cleaners. Many such industries use portable vacuum cleaners that incorporate the vacuum motor and the waste container. A relatively short vacuum hose extends from the vacuum cleaner.
Although such portable vacuum cleaners are convenient and are relatively inexpensive, they have some draw backs. In order to clean different areas, the entire vacuum cleaner needs to be moved around. During and after use, the vacuum cleaner, the vacuum hose, the power cord of the vacuum cleaner and, if used, a power cord extension, are all possible tripping hazard. Also, in order to facilitate their displacement, the portable vacuum cleaners are often provided with swivelling wheels. However, this means that the vacuum cleaner could accidentally and damage objects in its environment. For example, a person cleaning the inside of a car could pull on the vacuum hose and, as a result, pull on the vacuum cleaner that could roll into the side of the car and damage it. Also, portable vacuum cleaners are noisy and, due to their relatively short vacuum hoses, the user is exposed to this noise.
In order to address at least some of the above drawbacks, many industries prefer to use central vacuum cleaners. The vacuum motor and the waste container of the central vacuum cleaner are typically installed in a fixed location that is remote from the area that needs to be vacuumed. As such, they are no longer a tripping hazard. A relatively long vacuum hose is connected to a vacuum outlet that communicates with the vacuum cleaner. As a result, handling is facilitated as the user only needs to carry around the vacuum hose. Also, since the vacuum motor is provided remotely, the user is less exposed or not exposed to its noise.
However, the long vacuum hoses used with central vacuums can still be tripping hazards. To address this problem, a vacuum hose reel assembly can be provided that allow the vacuum hose to be easily put away when not in use by winding the vacuum hose about the reel.
Some vacuum hose reel assemblies are retractable, meaning that the user does not need to manually turn the reel in order to wind the vacuum. As would be understood, this is very convenient to the user. In some implementations, the vacuum hose reel assembly includes a spring that is wound as the vacuum hose is unwound from the coil. When the user is done with the vacuum hose, the user releases the energy stored in the spring, by giving a quick tug on the vacuum hose or by some other means depending on the implementation, causing the spring to unwind and to turn the reel to wind the vacuum hose about the reel. However, in some such vacuum hose reel assemblies, the forces applied to the spring as it unwinds or when the reel comes to a sudden stop, may cause the spring to break. This is especially true when very long hoses are used since the force of the spring and the mass of the vacuum hose are greater. Also, the type of matter to be aspirated and a height at which the vacuum hose reel assembly is to be installed also have an effect on the forces that are applied to the spring. For example, aspirating water using a vacuum hose mounted to a vacuum hose reel mounted 7 meters high applies more forces on than aspirating dust using a vacuum hose mounted to a vacuum hose reel mounted 3 meters high. These forces could also potentially cause failure of the spring.
There is therefore a desire for a retractable vacuum hose reel using a spring assembly that addresses at least some of the above drawbacks.